Originally Posted by
LatusElAl
I guarantee that there are even more PL's that don't get corporate rates and that give LY more annual revenue than almost all, if not absolutely all, GL's no matter how high a tarrif they pay.
The bottom line of FF programs is to reward customer loyalty. El Al is now, correctly, viewing loyalty in terms of annual revenue. The fact that a GL pays $400 more for a particular flight DOES NOT outweigh and is far less significant than the PL who spends $20,000 more than the GL on an annual basis. All major airlines work on this premise and now El Al has followed suit.
In addition, economyman, you admit that you give plenty of revenue to BA - that is why El Al's move is correct, even in your case, because they want to increase the revenue you give them. Now, to get the upgrades on LY, you'll have to give them more of your business instead of BA, and get to PL. THAT is life.
But this will not make me fly more with ELAL, probably less to be honest. Recently for the very first time I took CO to EWR in J and returned with Swiss from JFK via ZRH. I got a great deal on this flight which worked out less than Y on LY.
When comparing LY and BA here is how I see things. (a) BA have a premium economy product which is very reasonable and much better than economy on either BA or LY - I always book premium economy on BA; (b) I usually upgrade my trip on BA either in advance with miles or if I think an operational upgrade is likely then I leave it to the airport. Biz on BA is much better than on LY. All that said, LY fly direct to many of my destinations and that means a great deal to me. So probably at the end of the day I will keep flying with LY despite all I've said. But you can be sure I will not forgo my BA travel either.
Rant end -----